Bisphenol A, a raw material for preparing plastics such as polycarbonate or epoxy resins, is widely used in the manufacture of nursing bottles, dental resins, coatings for beverage cans, etc. However, bisphenol A is an endocrine disrupter (environmental hormone) which can act as a synthetic estrogen. When it is absorbed into an organism, it interferes with or disturbs the normal function of the endocrine system. Even when it exists in an organism in a very small amount, it will cause serious disorders, including reproductive dysfunction, growth retardation, malformation and cancer, by biosorption. For this reason, detection of bisphenol A in natural systems is essential for public health and environmental protection.
In the examination of trace hazardous materials in the environmental and food industries, the evaluation of safety in the pharmaceutical industry, etc., detection of environmental hormones such as bisphenol A has been requested, but there has been significant difficulty in detecting a trace amount of bisphenol A. Thus, there has been a need to develop a novel technology capable of effectively detecting and removing bisphenol A.
Meanwhile, aptamers which are single-stranded DNA or RNA molecules refer to small single-stranded oligonucleotides that can bind specifically to their target with high affinity. Aptamers have been recognized as substitutes for antibodies, because these aptamers can be used as components for biosensors capable of recognizing molecules in detection/analysis systems. Particularly, unlike antibodies, aptamers can be used as molecules targeting various organic and inorganic substances, including toxin, and once an aptamer binding specifically to a certain substance is isolated, it can be consistently produced at low costs using automated oligomer synthesis methods. Since an aptamer-based biosensor of detecting a target protein using a fluorescence-labeled aptamer was first developed in 1996, various biosensors based on the advantages and structural characteristics of aptamers have been developed (Yeon-Seok KIM & Man-Bock GU, NICE, 26(6): 690, 2008), and discovery of new aptamers capable of detecting various chemical substances has been requested.
Accordingly, the present inventors have made many efforts to isolate an aptamer that binds specifically to bisphenol so as to be capable of effectively detecting and removing bisphenol. As a result, the present inventors have selected an aptamer binding specifically only to bisphenol A using the SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment) process and have found that the selected aptamer binds specifically only to bisphenol A without binding to other bisphenols, including bisphenol B, which have structures similar thereto, thereby completing the present invention.